While we’ve grown to be a bit agnostic when it comes to the twice yearly parachute drop of physical product into the local mom and pop record shops, one gem has come onto our radar we’d like to put on yours for Black Friday, 2013. The Stiff Records Ten Big Stiffs 7″ box set houses a double handful of the legendary label’s singular achievements—and a mere 1,000 of them will be available to purchase come Friday, 11/29.
In addition, we’ve been given 2 T-shirts to give away to herald the arrival of Ten Big Stiffs, but first some official background:
“Founded in 1976, Stiff Records was at the heart of the new wave, bringing the world artists as diverse as Elvis Costello, Kirsty MacColl and Ian Dury and what is generally regarded as the first ever punk rock single, “New Rose” by The Damned. The label set the yardstick for music business marketing, with artwork by Barney Bubbles and an array of memorable slogans, not least “If It Ain’t Stiff, It Ain’t Worth A Fuck.”
Stiff continues to this day, with the 2012 UK #1 single “Bom Bom” by Sam And The Womp and a back catalog comprising 150 singles and more than 50 albums of revered 70s and 80s pop, punk, and rock.
This limited edition 7” Box Set “Ten Big Stiffs” takes you on a tour of the Stiff catalog, which includes ten 7-inch releases, all chosen by Stiff Records, featuring some of the most recognizable tracks from the label throughout the years: Tenpole Tudor’s “Swords of a Thousand Men” (as heard in Aardman Animations’ Pirates! in 2012 and in TV ads for EA Games’ FIFA 11 in 2011), Tracey Ullman’s “They Don’t Know” (#8 US hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983), Wreckless Eric’s “Whole Wide World” (MacDonalds TV ads in 2012) and Desmond Dekker’s “Israelites” (a classic hit featured in Drugstore Cowboy.)
Set for release on November 29, as a Record Store Day exclusive in North America through indie stories via Razor & Tie Records Ten Big Stiffs is an incredible collector’s item, the original sleeve artwork is recreated on each, with the exception of Mint Juleps’ “Docklands.” This is ‘the Stiff 7-inch that never was.”
Scheduled to have been a 7-inch release back in the day, it originally got overlooked, so collectors are always asking for it. The set also includes Plasmatics, Wreckless Eric, The Untouchables, and more.”
To celebrate the arrival of Ten Big Stiffs, we’ve been given 2 T-shirts to award 2 of you with the classic (and head turning) slogan, “If It Ain’t Stiff It Ain’t Worth A Fuck!”
That’s the one right there—lower right.
Enter to win the Stiff Records T-shirt by completing the slogan anew, “If It Ain’t Stiff, ______________!” Fill in the blank with your new, original slogan and the cleverest of the bunch (with a North American mailing address) will find a T-shirt in his or her mailbox.
We’ll choose 2 winners for a shirt a piece a week from today, November 6, 2013!
